Examining Chop Robinson's Big Change for the 2026 Season

First-round picks are crucial to the success of any team across the NFL. The Miami Dolphins are no exception.

Two years ago, the Miami Dolphins added Penn State pass rusher Chop Robinson to their arsenal of edge defenders with their first-round pick.

New Philosophy

That was under the previous regime. Things are different now under the regime of Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley, and Robinson is taking notice.

Jeff Hafley is going to build his defense from the ground up after coming over to Miami after two seasons as Green Bay’s defensive coordinator.

In his two seasons, his edge rushers were big players. Rashan Gary was listed at 277 pounds. Lukas Van Ness was a power rusher coming out of Iowa.

The Packers have tended to side with bigger players as their pass rusher to the point where Robinson, who was 254 pounds when he was drafted would have been considered a small guy in Green Bay.

Robinson evidently took notice of the type of players his new head coach typically liked during his time in Green Bay, and was noted by Hafley to have added weight coming into his third season.

Robinson confirmed that he added weight with an added motivation behind the weight gain.

“I feel great," Robinson said after practice Wednesday. "I think in the run game especially is going to be able to help me set the edge. And then when I put the weight on, I was eating right, I have a chef and everything now. So I'm putting the right fuel in my body and I honestly feel the best I ever felt.”

Robinson has had an underwhelming start to his career as a pass rusher, but his real struggle has come in the run game, which can be one of the concerns of having an undersized player trying to set the edge against the opposing offense.

Setting edges and playing the run is not the most attractive thing about football. It’s not going to make the highlight reels, but it is something that a defensive coach is going to value.

Hafley said that he wanted his team to have one key trait define it throughout his first training camp as the head coach.

“I want (fans) to see a physical team that that lays it on the line, that plays together, that has fun together, and that can execute without making a lot of pre-snap, post-snap mistakes,” Hafley said on Tuesday. “A smart football team who plays as hard as they can for as long as they can and enjoys playing together, and that's really important because those are the things that we can control.”

Physicality and stopping the run are things that go hand-in-hand. Rarely is a team going to be given the label of soft if they are able to stop the run.

In Jeff Hafley’s defense, setting the edge is a requirement, not an exception. Edge rushers are not asked to play the run on the way to the quarterback.

Take the grades at PFF for what they are worth, but Robinson was ranked 78th of 115 qualifying edge defenders a season ago. That is not going to keep him on the field, and the added weight could be something that makes him stronger in that phase of the game.

One Potential Drawback

While stopping opposing run games is going to be paramount for any defense, Robinson was picked in the first round because his pass-rushing potential.

With Robinson playing at the heaviest weight of his career, the hope would be that he did not sacrifice speed and explosiveness for strength. There’s a delicate balance whenever a pass rusher adds weight, especially when it’s weight he’s not used to carrying.

Robinson believes that adding this weight puts him in the best position to succeed.

““I mean, just me watching the tape from my rookie year and last year is just, I know what I'm capable of," Robinson said. "I know what I got to do. So I did everything I can to put myself in the best position.”

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